Pipes are employed throughout the world to carry flowable materials such as fuel, sewage, water, industrial components, and the like. To avoid replacement of pipes, especially those that are located underground, systems have been developed to reline such pipes using sleeves of material that can be eventually hardened by polymerization of a chemical resin impregnated into a polymeric sleeve. It is important that the resin employed penetrates or "wet" through the sleeve of material within a certain time in order to produce a lining that does not have voids or gaps and/or to minimize labor costs.
In the past, liquid resins have been employed based on specifications and experience as to such resin's ability to wet or penetrate the absorbent material. Unfortunately, the lining material and liquid resin interaction does not always proceed according to predictions. Thus, it is necessary to pre-determine the flow of liquid resin through the lining fabric prior to its use.
An apparatus and method to pre-test liquid resins with respect to penetration of a lining material would be a notable advance in the industrial arts.